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At the end of January, USCIS announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2024 H-1B cap will open on March 1st and close at noon on March 17th.
What This Means for Employers
During this period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to complete and submit their registrations for their H-1B candidates using the USCIS online H-1B registration system. When submission is completed, a confirmation number will be assigned for the fiscal year of 2024 H-1B cap. At Noon Eastern time on March 17, the registration period will end until next year’s registration opens in 2024.
What Should Employers Be Doing Now?
Employers should be looking at their I-9s and current employees to determine if they have anyone on F-1/OPT. These employees may have limited work authorization, and in order to keep employing them the employer may need to engage in the employment-driven visa process. These employees are usually good candidates for the H-1B visa. If the employer determines that they have an F-1/OPT employee, we recommend they contact their business immigration lawyer as soon as possible for full analysis and to see if these employees should be registered for the lottery. In addition to determining if an employee is a candidate for the H-1B lottery, employers need to make sure they understand if they can register for the regular or advanced degree category. Selecting the incorrect category can invalidate the registration. Making other minor errors in the registration can also either invalidate the registration or if selected, can cause hurdles later when it is time to file the Petition.
How to register for the H-1B Cap Lottery
Prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners or their representatives are required to use a myUSCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each registration submitted on behalf of each beneficiary. Prospective petitioners submitting their own registrations (U.S. employers and U.S. agents, collectively known as “registrants”) will use a “registrant” account. Registrants will be able to create new accounts beginning at noon Eastern on February 21st, 2023.
Representatives may add clients to their accounts at any time, but both representatives and registrants must wait until March 1 to enter beneficiary information and submit the registration with the $10 fee. Prospective petitioners or their representatives will be able to submit registrations for multiple beneficiaries in a single online session. Through the account, they will be able to prepare, edit, and store draft registrations prior to the final payment and submission of each registration.
Three Things to Know and Important Dates:
Registrants will be able to create new accounts beginning at noon Eastern on February 21st, 2023.
Employers can only register H-1B candidates using their myuscis accounts, so it’s important to first create the correct account.
The Registration period is only open between March 1 and March 17, Noon Eastern Time.
Additional Information About The Cap H-1B Lottery from USCIS:
If USCIS does not receive enough registrations, all registrations that were properly submitted in the initial registration period will be selected. USCIS intends to notify account holders by March 31st.
An H-1B cap-subject petition, including a petition for a beneficiary who is eligible for the advanced degree exemption, may only be filed by a petitioner whose registration for the beneficiary named in the H-1B petition was selected in the H-1B registration process.
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Leyla McMullen
Business Immigration Lawyer
Mdivani Corporate Immigration Law Firm
NOT LEGAL ADVICE: This article is for educational purposes only, it is not legal advice that may be applicable to your situation
The information provided here does not constitute legal advice. It is general information regarding law and policy that may be applicable to your particular HR issue or legal problem. Information provided in this blog, or any of our other public posts, does not create an attorney-client relationship. For specific advice you can rely upon, please contact your attorney.